Labor's policy in two political weak spots will be reworked with new advocates as Kevin Rudd appoints Mark Butler as minister for environment and climate change and Tony Burke as minister for immigration.

And former environment minister Burke will oversee the review of the refugee determination process announced in the budget, likely to result in a tightening of criteria. Foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has said an overwhelming majority of those arriving by boat are economic migrants despite the fact that over 90% are found to be refugees by the Australian system. Asylum will also be high on the agenda when the prime minister meets Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono later this week.

Richard Marles, who resigned as parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs after the March leadership blow-up, will become trade minister to replace retiring Gillard loyalist Craig Emerson. He will sit in Cabinet.

He told Guardian Australia he would be "on a big learning curve" in the new portfolio, which was important to the economy and also critical to the future of jobs in manufacturing industries like those in his Victorian seat of Geelong.

"Trade matters to our economy and particularly to people employed in manufacturing industries...they need to develop products that can sell into a global market," Marles said.

Marles said last week's leadership ballot was "the hardest decision the caucus has had to make" but he said he was now "convinced Labor can win and we have a sense of energy that we didn't have before."

Rudd has already announced that Chris Bowen will be his treasurer and that three women will join his cabinet, taking female representation to its highest level ever.

They are the Victorian senator Jacinta Collins – previously a parliamentary secretary, who will take the portfolio of mental health – Victorian Catherine King and Tasmanian Julie Collins, who were formerly in the outer ministry. King takes the portfolio of regional Australia and Collins homelessness and the status of women. West Australian Melissa Parke joins the outer ministry with the portfolio if international development (aid).

Rudd's deputy Anthony Albanese is expected to take Stephen Conroy's old job of communications on top of his existing transport portfolio and Rudd backer Senator Kim Carr is likely to return to a revamped portfolio including innovation and tertiary education.

Outspoken Rudd supporter Joel Fitzgibbon will take the agriculture portfolio.

Gillard backer Brendan O'Connor will move from immigration to a new employment portfolio.

The new ministerial line up will be sworn in early this afternoon and meet almost immediately, with the re-elected Rudd determined to consult on major policy changes but eager to capitalise on a big bounce in Labor's primary vote recorded in several polls taken over the weekend.In his first full press conference on Friday, Rudd signalled Labor attended to go on the attack on asylum policy as well as revamp its own approach, alleging the Coalition's policy of turning boats back could result in diplomatic conflict. The ongoing arrival of asylum seeker boats has been "killing" Labor electorally, according to both strategists and backbenchers struggling to retain their seats.